How to press wheel bearings at home

Here is the new bearing being pressed on. 11 Clean and pack the inner bearings.

1252014 120813 AM EDT.

How to press wheel bearings at home. To press in the new ones you flip it all set your plates up vertical plates are just big enough to catch the retainer so you have slid the plates in between the studs and the retainer will sit right on the plates and you can press it right in. Old bearing races can be useful for pressing bearings in. If you use the old bearing outer race to press the new one in then cut the race at one point so it will have minimal tension when pressed.

I made sure to get good bearings this time and the Timken SET49 comes highly recommended by Neon guys who track their cars and I also read that the OEM Dodge bearings are the same as the Timken SET49. 1252014 120813 AM EDT. Bearing package goes in the freezer.

By tough i mean it bends the H section on a normal garage press so then it gets taken to an engineering shop that has a 50 ton press which shatters the hub before the bearing moves. To stay on topic a 6 ton press will do the vast majority of wheel bearings but there will be the odd one or two which it wont move. There was a 5 ton press.

To change wheel bearings start by lifting the wheel up on a jack unscrewing the lug nuts and taking the wheel off. Then remove the brake caliper the dust cover over the rotor and the cotter pin and castle nut behind the dust cover. Next pull the rotor off remove the old hub and take apart the hub assembly to access the wheel bearings.

You can heat the knuckle and freeze the bearing overnight as some have mentioned but it is not ideal and only works sometimes and you need access to a heat source. Do not use a hammer you will likely damage the bearing. I do all my own work too but a.

Spoon a glop of new grease into the palm of your hand. Then slap the edge of the bearing into the grease. Force the grease into the bearing cage like youre scooping dip with a potato chip.

Rotate the bearing and repeat until the bearing cage is filled with grease. Smear the rest of the grease over the face of the bearing rollers. If you are installing a bearing so the OD is the press clear around the inner race so it is not loaded during the assembly.

Vice versa applies also. Use grease or anti-sieze. Worst case use a socket to install bearing.

Inspect the bore of the hole before pressing. Make sure there are no slivers on the edge of the bore. 11 Clean and pack the inner bearings.

Use the technique described for cleaning and packing your outer bearings. Wipe out the hole in the hub of the drum where the inner bearing was. Then take a gob of grease and smooth it into the hole.

Be sure that the grease fills the races inside the hub where the bearing fits. Get the Parts From McMaster-Carr. I ordered all of the hardware from McMaster-Carr.

Here is the list. 5635K63 - Flexible Nylon Tubing HT Pressure Opaque Red 018 ID 14 OD 25 ft. 5779K109 - Push-to-Connect Tube Fitting for Air Straight Adapter for 14 Tube OD x 14 NPT Male x 5.

Here is the new bearing being pressed on. I am using a Large Bearing Seperator fron Harbor Freight to press everything on with. Then press the first retaining ring on all the way till the snap ring groove appears.

The rear bearings are press-fit into a bearing housing. These are hard to remove because Outer Diameter of the bearing is actually just slightly larger than the Inner Diameter of the bearing housing. Bearing race insertionBefore you try to get the new races in you need to take the oldraces and cut each across using a rotary tool saw angle grinder or the like.

Stick the newraces in the freezer this will cause them to shrink 30 minutes at least in the freezer. Heat the hub again this will cause it to expand. Use a wrench or vice grips to hold one of the nuts tight.

Then torque the other nut with a wrench. As the socket pushes the bushing the opposite socket acts as a brace pressing up against the housing essentially pressing the bushing into the housing. After a few minutes the bushing was entirely in the housing all without a press.

Raise vehicle on hydraulic lift or on jack stands. If you have access to a hydraulic lift use it. Its much easier to complete this job while standing up.

However if you dont have a hydraulic lift you can service your wheel bearings by raising the vehicle on jack stands. Getting a bearing in and out of the hub sans a press is a difficult job. Replacing the whole hub and the bearing as one unit is easier and most mechanics prefer to do it that way.

Remember the first bad wheel bearing symptoms should prompt you to. Place the tip of a punch inside the hub against the inner bearing. Tap the back end of the punch with a hammer to knock out the inner bearing and seal.

Work your way around the bearing until it falls out underneath the hub. A punch is a metal rod with a sharp tip at 1 end and a blunt end on the other side. This innovative set allows you to remove and install most foreign and domestic front wheel drive wheel bearings without taking the steering knuckle and strut assembly off the vehicle letting you avoid the trouble and expense of having to realign your car afterward.

All pieces fit neatly into a blow mold case keeping.